The kinetic investigation of the mechanism of DNA conformation changes is proposed. Rate measurements would be undertaken in a stopped-flow instrument by changing the pH of the nucleic acid solutions and monitoring the ensuing rapid conformation change spectrophotometrically at 280 nm. The investigations completed so far have revealed the mechanism of the reversible double-helix/random-coil conformation change of poly(d(A-T)), a synthetic DNA analog. The proposed work would continue with the study of the unfolding/refolding mechanism of poly(d(GC)), a DNA analog in which the strands of double helix are held together more strongly than in poly(d(AT)). BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: Eugene Hamori, Takayoshi Iio, Marilyn B. Senior, and Peter L. Gutierrez, Kinetic Study of the Unwinding Process of a Native Satellite DNA, Federation Proceedings, 34, 490 (l975). Eugene Hamori, Graphical Representation of Free Energy Changes in Sequential Chemical Reactions, Journal of Chemical Education, 52, 370 (l975).